


A Trip to Sunfish Pocket

by L0NE



Category: AI: The Somnium Files (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:55:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21807811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L0NE/pseuds/L0NE
Summary: When Mizuki’s life starts to fall apart, and Date is nowhere to be found, and Tesa is busy, and Ota is as terrible company for a hurting heart as ever, Mizuki sneaks into the building of Sunfish Pocket with the set of master keys her father left her to spend time with the mermaids.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 48





	A Trip to Sunfish Pocket

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone im back w another fic.  
> i had to make up names for mermaids. i’m sorry about that. for reference, i tried to describe them in the story, but heres which one each is
> 
> kanade- dark haired, dark uniform smirky mermaid on the lower right of the mermaid portraits  
> shiino- brown haired basic looking mermaid under amame on the mermaid portraits  
> midori- green haired mermaid next to amame on the mermaid portraits
> 
> ok thanks byeee
> 
> EDIT: WTF I WAS REPLAYING WHY DID I THINK SUNFISH POCKET WAS IN THE LEMNISCATE BUILDING? LOL. i fixed the fic.

When Mizuki’s life starts to fall apart, and Date is nowhere to be found, and Tesa is busy, and Ota is as terrible company for a hurting heart as ever, Mizuki sneaks into the building of Sunfish Pocket with the set of master keys her father left her to spend time with the mermaids.

Technically, the back entrances and hidden staircases are only meant for employees and management, but Mizuki has always been a special exception. Even if someone were to find her in the restricted areas now, there was a good shot they’d just let her go on by— her father might be gone at the moment, but he’d definitely be coming back, and if someone messed with Mizuki, there’d be hell to pay. That, and she’s confident enough that staff around the building like her enough to continue to ignore rules for her, anyways.

That turns out to be true when Mizuki runs into Amame on the employee stairs outside, and all the mermaid does is take her hand and lead her to the café.

“Let me get you something really good,” she says, sitting Mizuki down at one of the tables closest to the kitchen— her favorite place to sit, since it’s the fastest place to get your food from, though it’s not like she has any competition before the café opens, anyways— and then handing Mizuki her special trident before bustling into the kitchen to see if any of the actual cooks have arrived yet. Amame isn’t even properly dressed for work yet— still in her everyday clothes, and her hair isn’t done— but it seems like the second she steps in through the doors, she’s switched onto work mode.

Mizuki rests the trident against the bar next to her and looks around. Mornings at the Sunfish Pocket don’t hold a feather to the business of lunch time, but enough otaku and tourists come for a cup of coffee or breakfast to warrant a 9 o’clock opening with a fraction of the mermaids that are usually working. Mizuki picks up her napkin and crumples it in her hands while wondering who would be on duty for today. She doesn’t want to use her phone to check the schedules online, because then she’ll feel the urge to check her NILE messages, reread her father’s last message to her, and spiral downwards into worry all over again.

Luckily, she doesn’t have to wait too long for something to distract her and to get somewhat of an answer— the first mermaid to get finished changing and emerge into the storefront is Kanade, the “queen” of the café for the past couple months. Her entire image exudes bossy and stuck up, but that’s what’s made her a favorite among patrons, to the point where one of the most expensive items on the menu involves her forcing a person to the floor and grinding her heel on their head. Mizuki can’t understand why that would be appealing, since being humiliated so publicly must be awful, but then she remembers some of the things she’s seen on Date’s computer and realizes there are other freaks like him out there.

And, although Kanade always has a smirk on her face, and her dark outfit may make her intimidating, and she can insult a customer at a moment’s notice, the second she locks eyes with Mizuki coming out of the changing room, she immediately rushes over, dark brown twintails flying behind her.

“Mizuki! I didn’t know you were going to be here,” she cries out, leaning down and squeezing her into a hug. Her grip is so strong that Mizuki‘s arms feel like they’ll be crushed, locked to her sides where she can’t reciprocate the gesture. 

When she pulls away, the smell of expensive, flower-y perfume fills Mizuki’s senses. “Are you hanging in there okay?” She asks.

News reports have been circulating already, and Mizuki talks to some of the mermaids over NILE, so the staff knows her father is missing and that her mother was killed. Kanade asking her how she’s doing is mainly just to be polite, but it’s not particularly hard to guess how she’s really “hanging in there”.

So, Mizuki shrugs, “Yeah…” 

And it’s clear she’s just saying that, not that she truly means it, so Kanade frowns.

“Wanna talk about it at all?” She asks, then points to the main entrance, which is still closed. “I’ve got time before I’ve gotta open the store for the scum outside.”

A pause. Mizuki can hear the sound of plates and silverware clinking together from the kitchen, and she wonders if Amame found someone to work for her in the kitchen. “...Nah…” She shakes her head. “I just wanna forget about all of it for a sec…” Maybe it would actually be helpful to vent to someone instead of keeping all of her thoughts inside, but she’s never been the type to do that. She just wants to ignore the bad things for as long as she can.

Kanade remains silent for a moment, like she’s weighing her options, or like she’s going to press Mizuki on her decision. 

But in the end, she pulls out the chair across from Mizuki and takes a seat. “Well, I’ll grace you with my presence in the meantime,” she says, leaning over the table with a smile.

Mizuki shifts in her chair slightly, feeling a little nervous due to the sudden close attention. No wonder Kanade was so popular— even without all the sadistic qualities, she was still beautiful. “Huh? Is that really okay?”

“Of course. Nothing’s more important than spending time with our cutest, number one Sea King,” Kanade takes the crumpled napkin in front of Mizuki and refolds it into the standard fold meant to go with each place setting. It looks like a triangle sandwich. “That, and I’m sure Shiino wouldn’t mind picking up the extra work I’ll leave behind.”

Shiino is another mermaid at the Sunfish Pocket, who, while not as popular as Kanade, diligently works to actually be like a real maid— no nonsense, no fooling around, always keeping her hair tied up so it’s out of her way and wearing a serious look. Of course, there are some moments where she loses her edge and shows a softer side, typically when she’s given a compliment or a large tip, but she quickly denies the incidents after they happen… Thinking about it, though, Shiino would probably get on Kanade’s case for slacking off, so Mizuki says a silent prayer for the mermaid’s future and hopes she doesn’t get too much of an earful.

Kanade claps her hands together to bring her attention to the present. “You know, I heard Shiino started taking karate classes. She wants to be one of those maids that can do anything, you know? Even fight.” Kanade puts her hands into two fists.

Mizuki’s eyes widen. “Like a D*nganronpa level maid…? But doesn’t she think that getting a job as a real maid would help her more?”

“See, I thought that, too. But when I asked her about it, she said this _was_ real maid work. It is _definitely_ work, having to come in and steal the money off all the disgusting low-life creeps that come in, but I feel like a maid and a mermaid are two really different jobs.”

“Maybe it’s like actors who really like playing doctors on TV, but aren’t like that in real life.”

“Ohhh, maybe!”

The two of them start talking back and forth, falling into a casual conversation that goes in whatever direction the wind decides to take it. It’s a welcome distraction from everything else in Mizuki’s life at the moment, and makes it feel like everything’s gone back to normal. 

_...Can things really go back to normal?_ She finds herself thinking as Kanade tells her a story she’s only half-listening to. Her heart hopes everything can go back to the way it was after all the dust settles, but her mind tells her that’s impossible. No matter how disconnected she’s been from her mother the past couple of years, her not being alive is still a huge difference in Mizuki’s life. She can try and pretend everything’ll be the same as before, but it’s obvious it won’t be. And everything might just get more different if her father doesn’t come home… What is she going to do if her father stays missing? 

Mizuki sinks lower in her chair.

Kanade knows Mizuki isn’t listening by the way she’s staring off into the distance, so she trails off from her story.

“Mizuki…” she calls out, softly. 

There’s no response, and Kanade furrows her brows. “Hey, are you—“

“Sorry ‘bout the delay~! Here ya go, Mizukin!”

Both of the girls at the table to turn their heads in the direction of the voice coming out from the kitchen. Instead of Amame, another mermaid, Midori, walks out with a stack of pancakes high enough to make even the hungriest of customers feel full. Like her name, Midori’s favorite color is green, to the point where she’s even picked her uniform and dyed her hair to match. Apparently, it’s because it reminds her of the countryside of Chino, her home, and not because of the green of money, like Amame would say.

“Oh, Midori,” Kanade nods. “Good morning.”

Midori smiles. “Mornin’, Kanade! You’re lookin’ as pretty as ever.” She places the pancakes— five fluffy ones covered in syrup, fruit, whipped cream, butter, and chocolate— in front of Mizuki, beaming. It’s teeth-hurtingly sweet to look at, but Mizuki just can’t bring herself to look away, either. Maybe all those flavors will clash, maybe they won’t— regardless, looking at food has made her realize she’s a lot hungrier than she thought. 

Midori notices Mizuki hesitating to reach for her fork and tilts her head. “You can dig in, Mizukin.”

And with that, Mizuki snatches up her fork and tears through the side of the stack, shoveling a larger-than-recommended bite in her mouth.

It’s impossible to describe what she’s eaten as anything but delicious, but she can’t give feedback through her eating besides a couple of nods and a thumbs up, which makes Kanade and Midori chuckle.

“...‘s really good,” Mizuki breathes after she’s finished half of the stack in under four minutes.

Midori grins. “Right? I made sure to top it with all kinds of stuff~” Whether or not she knew that the flavor would be good despite the assortment of toppings remains unknown, since, knowing Midori, she probably just threw whatever she could find on since it looked tasty. “They should let me into the kitchen more!”

“There’s more, Ms. Okiura,” another voice says, and Shiino comes out from behind the bar with Amame in tow. There’s a serious look on the former’s face as she stops to stand next to Midori, who has a cartoonishly happy resting face that the contrast between the two of them is almost alarming. “Or, rather, there _can_ be more. Whatever you need, we will serve you.” She lowers her head in a bow. Amame notices it and does it as well, but it’s clear she isn’t taking it seriously.

Mizuki stares, silent. 

Then, she shakes her head, a little bit embarrassed. “I don’t think I can eat too much more after this. Sorry…”

“Then we can pack up food for later!” Amame reassures her, head coming back up. There’s a shine in her eyes, something that happens when she takes charge in a situation. “Like, when you need dinner or lunch or something!”

“Though the majority of the menu is sweets and desserts, there are a few things we can call legitimate meals that I would recommend you take to go,” Shiino adds.

Midori nods. “My mamma always says that sweets are the best thing for when times get tough, so we’ll make sure to give ya a lotta those, at least.”

“You know what’s also good for when the times get tough? Letting off some steam. You wanna beat up an otaku creep after opening to feel better?” Kanade leans over the table, holding up a knife.

So much talking all at once. Mizuki clumsily tries to respond to everyone— _That sounds fine, I’m okay with that, Maybe not too many sweets, I don’t wanna beat up strangers and also put the knife down_ — but their conversations keep continuing. All of them are talking about their own ways of taking care of her, either amongst themselves or just throwing ideas at her. Surprisingly, it doesn’t bother her as much as typical fawning would. In fact, this single moment might be the most attention multiple people have paid her in the past couple days. Thinking about that doesn’t really make her very happy, but the fact that she has it now is enough for her...

Mizuki doesn’t know why, but she feels her eyes sting after that crosses her mind.

And before she can even process it, she’s begun to cry, and all the noise dies down at once.

Midori lets out a small gasp, then turns to run behind the bar, “Ah, Mizukin… Lemme get a tissue…!” She mumbles, pulling out paper napkins from a holder and rushing back over to hand to Mizuki for use.

Confused, Mizuki raises her eyebrows and wipes at her face, but the tears keep pouring down her cheeks. “Wha…I don’t know why I’m…” She sniffles, taking a napkin and dabbing at her eyes. “This is weird. I didn’t mean to…”

A hand is put on Mizuki’s shoulder. When she looks up, Shiino is the one staring back at her, a small, tired smile on her face.

“It’s okay, Ms. Okiura,” Shiino nods. This is one of the rare moments that Shiino shows genuine emotion, Mizuki realizes, but the mermaid isn’t trying to hide it like she does with customers with the back of a hand or a stray menu. Instead, she looks Mizuki in the eyes and says clearly, “No need to apologize. This is why we’re here.”

For a second, Mizuki is frozen, looking around the room. Each mermaid has the same expression on as Shiino, ready to go along with whatever she says or does.

It makes Mizuki’s chest hurt with a feeling she can’t place. They really care, don’t they?

They aren’t related to her, aren’t her best friends, are really only bound to her by the means of her dad being their boss, but they still care.

  
  
  
  
  


_Finally_ , there are people who are around her that care and won’t disappear on her...

  
  
  
  


Once she thinks that, Mizuki melts into a pool of tears, and all the maids rush over to hold her. The only reassurance that everything will be okay comes from the four mermaids on duty that morning.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this all in one sitting sorry if any parts are bad.
> 
> I wanted to do like, a fic series based on what i thought each maid would be like/a story involving them, but i realized it’d basically be just me projecting my thoughts hardcore and idk if people would want to read that.
> 
> i’ll have to think on it. anyways thanks for reading!


End file.
